_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

## **ST JOHN’S MUXTON PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2021** 

## **INTRODUCTION** 

This report is intended to explain to church members and the public how St John’s operates, our objectives and activities, our achievement and performance and our financial position. We hope that you find the information helpful. 

## **1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS** 

St John’s Church, Muxton 

Correspondence address:  Lesley Trotman, Church Office, St John’s Church, Saltwells Drive, Muxton TF2 8RJ. Website www.stjohnsmuxton.org.uk Church Office: 01952 670033 Email: admin@stjohnsmuxton.org.uk 

St John’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) had the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Revd Matthew Lefroy in promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical within the ecclesiastical parish of Muxton.  The PCC is responsible for the running and maintaining of the church building, namely, St John’s Church and Community Centre, Saltwells Drive, Muxton. 

Members of the PCC are either ex-officio (Clergy, Churchwardens and Deanery Synod Representatives), elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting or co-opted in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. At the 2021 Annual Parochial Church Meeting held in April those listed below were appointed to serve as members of the PCC. 

_**Incumbent** :_ Matthew Lefroy _**Curate** :_ Vikki Day (June 2021) _**Ordained Local Minister** :_ Jane Evans 

opportunity for questions.  PCC members are invited to attend any relevant diocesan training. 

**Subcommittees and working parties:** The PCC has a subcommittee to help with the day to day running of St John’s which is the Standing Committee.  This is the only committee required by law.  It has the power to transact the business of PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the Council.  It is comprised of the vicar, vice chair, wardens, Secretary and treasurer. 

We also have working parties which are decided in consultation with the vicar:  Working parties include the Building Management Team, Evangelism, World Church & Justice, Community, Parish Development Team(PDT), Personnel and Safeguarding. 

## **SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT** 

We take seriously the safeguarding of children young adults and vulnerable people in our care. The PCCs will take all reasonable care to ensure the safety of the children, young people and vulnerable adults of St John’s & St Michael’s Churches for whom they bear responsibility. 

We recognise that children by virtue of legal status and dependency on adults for their emotional and physical needs will always be vulnerable and at a disadvantage.  We also understand that illness, disability, race, mental health and other issues can put adults in a position of vulnerability. We commit to considering these things in our activities – undertaking supervision of staff working with them and risk assessing activities and groups as a check and balance in our work. 

**Risk Management** – is done by Building Management. 

## **3. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** 

## **OUR VISION** 

## **WE WANT TO BE PASSIONATE FOR GOD BY…** 

_**Churchwardens** :_ Andrew Hambler & Vacancy 

## _**Representatives on the Deanery Synod** :_ Kerry Hoult & 2 

Vacancies 

_**Elected Members:**_ Katharine Hambler, Vicky Yates, David Pierce, Vicky Yates, Jan Stackhouse, Lesley Trotman (Secretary), Dan West,   Gill Steinert,  Simon Hartridge (Treasurer) and James Tagg (Vice Chair) 

**Banker** :  CAF Bank **Auditor** : Lynne Clifford at Clifford & Co 

## **2. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** 

**PCC Constitution:** The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England.  The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure.  The PCC is registered with the Charity Commission, number 1162098. In 2012 we became a covenanted parish agreed with Bishop Mark of Shrewsbury (certificate hanging by kitchen door). **PCC Members:** Elected PCC members are elected by the congregation.  We have twelve elected PCC posts.  Four become vacant each year.  On election the post lasts for three years.  Those elected to deanery synod are also eligible to sit on PCC as are wardens and clergy. 

**Induction and training of PCC members:** At the first PCC meeting the PCC shares Holy Communion and all members are given a summary of how the PCCs work and there is an 

## **Visibly developing trust in Jesus** 

We will offer explicit opportunities for people to reflect regularly on their journey of faith and then challenge and support them to progress to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ _._ 

## **Readily taking risks** 

We will always be ready to share our faith with others and to be in those situations where the Holy Spirit would want us to be. 

## **Generously serving our community** 

We will actively engage with our local community to provide Christian support where needed and help to develop community spirit. 

## **Unashamedly praying** 

We will live lives that demonstrate the importance we place on praying alone and together and we will be ready to pray for and with people who are and who are not part of our church. 

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_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

## **4. ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE** 

During the year, six scheduled meetings of the PCC were held, due to the pandemic 4 meetings were held on zoom. September and November we were permitted to meet in person and this took place in St Michael’s church. The main items that the PCC have looked at during the year have been:- update of polices, Covid related Risk Assessments, Finances – Fees/Wages/Budget/Approval of financial accounts, new website, Worship during Covid, Newspaper – Word around Muxton, Reporting Structure of PCC Sub Groups and Living in Love & Faith. 

**PARISH DEVELOPMENT TEAM (PDT)** The PDT normally consists of the vicar (and curate), 3 people chosen by a vote of the parishioners and 2 appointed members of the PCC. It discusses in detail issues which the PCC delegates to it and then makes recommendations to the PCC. With the end of the covenanted parish scheme in Lichfield diocese the requirement for the parish to have a PDT has ended.  Prior to the pandemic a small group was tasked by the PCC to look at the expansion of the building.  However, since the numbers using the building have dropped off during the pandemic and technology has been developed to enable a more flexible access to our worship during the pandemic, this small group did not meet in 2021. 

## **ENERGISED BY FAITH AND GOD-INSPIRED AND INSPIRING WORSHIP** 

We continued to offer our services online via zoom for both St John’s and St Michael’s members to join in changing to Livestream in October.  Capacity was reduced for most of the year taking into account social distancing although easing towards the end of the year. 

**Sermon series** included ‘Revelation’, ‘Mental Health’, Do You know Him’, ‘A New way of Living’ and ‘Prophecies of Hope’ We continued our weekly **Thursday Morning Prayer** at 7:30am for most of the year via zoom where attendance is good. In addition we have a time of Bible reading and prayer weekday mornings at 9am also via zoom. All welcome to both. 

## **OUTWARD LOOKING** 

## **OCCASIONAL OFFICES** 

**Baptisms/Thanksgivings:** We were able to offer Baptism and Thanksgiving services for some of 2021 although with government rules we still had reduced capacity in place for part of the year.  We had 1 Baptism and no Thanksgivings during 2021. 

**Weddings:** No weddings took place at St John’s in 2021. **Funerals:** Our pre-funeral pack with information on hymns, readings and tributes etc is available if required and we are grateful to the bereavement team who continue to support those who have recently had a relative pass away.  This as with all occasional office ministries occurs across the benefice. 0 Funeral services were held within church during 2021 but 15 were held at Telford Crematorium.  Sadly due to Coronavirus we were unable to hold our usual **Memorial Service** instead we produced a podcast of the service with the names of loved ones read out. St Michael’s was open between 2pm - 5pm on Sunday March 7th for private prayer and reflection with an opportunity to light a candle. 

## **EVANGELISM** 

The **EVANGELISM sub group** is made up a group of people who meet every 6 weeks to discern what God wants to do through St John’s in order to outreach and share the Gospel. In addition to arranging events we take time to pray and reflect on where we should be going next. During the year we have met on 8 occasions. 2021 has seen the fruition of 2 important initiatives we had been working on through lockdown; our own newspaper ( **The Word around Muxton** ) and a home written outreach course ( **SoulSpeak).** 

The **Word around Muxton** has been developed in order to further our relationship with the community of Muxton whilst sharing Kingdom values, written by local people for the local community. It is a low level evangelism initiative that is produced 3 times a year and delivered to every household in Muxton. Our aim is for the paper to provide local interest and information, whilst sharing Good News it will also be a vehicle to advertise our events and initiatives. 

For some time we have felt that the material we have used for process Evangelism ( eg Alpha, Christianity Explored, Emmaus etc ) has not met the need of the people we are attracting and have for some years had plans to write our own series. Lockdown offered such an opportunity and we have now developed our own series called **SoulSpeak.** The series is made up of number of sessions covering topics that we hope will be the questions people are asking and stimulate their interest in the Christian faith . We plan to run our first series in the Spring 2022. When we get going please spread the word and invite someone to join you and explore what we have done! We would love your feedback. 

During the year we used the diocesan material **Do You Know Him** as a sermon series and also within our small groups in order to deepen and challenge our own relationship with Jesus. 

Whilst we maintained our **3 healing services** throughout the year, these were less successful during this unsettled period. Zoom services did not work well as personal prayer was more difficult to offer – however we do hope those who did attend found healing in their personal situations. 

We sent **outreach cards to all of our Baptism, Bereavement and wedding contacts** (for the past 2 years) with a personalised message from Matthew to offer support and contact details. 

We also contacted the local school with an offer of **Wellbeing Kits for staff and support** for any local families in need. **Easte** r offered us an opportunity to be more visual in our community in the following ways: 

- We had the large **wooden cross** erected and the community were invited to attach their prayers on it during holy week and flowers were added on Easter Sunday 

- **Who Do You Say I am booklets** were distributed 

- We held a **painting competition** 

- **An Easter Trail** around the community was very well attended 

On September 4 we were delighted to be able to hold an open air end of **Lockdown celebration** . The event attracted about 80 people with some new faces joining in – especially attracted to the Bouncy castle! There was a good balance of worship music, prayer, interviews and activities with much welcomed opportunities for conversation between church family and community following such a long time of isolation. 

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_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

As usual we ended the year celebrating Christmas. We altered our **Carol singing** from visiting streets to publicising 3 venues where we gathered and sang and gave a short Christmas message and of course the traditional sweets and booklets! This worked quite well but would have been better with a larger church presence to swell the voices. We ended at St John’s with an informal ‘ **Carols & Candles’** . We intend to build on this model over the next few years. Our traditional **Crib/Christingle** was yet again the best attended service of the year. Nearly 100 people attended and is an event that our community truly embraces and provides contacts for us to develop. Plans for the coming year for your prayers please: 

- To develop a local book club 

- To deliver our new SoulSpeak series 

- Easter Plans 

- Continue the development of ‘The Word around Muxton’ 

- Review our outreach groups and activities 

- Explore how we can engage with users of our building 

- Jubilee celebration 

Let us also remember all the groups and activities that have restarted following lockdown; these are crucial to the outreach of the gospel in our community. Please pray for these groups and especially for their leaders as they discern what God wants of each them. 

- Tots 

- Community Choir 

- Join Us 

- Lunch Club 

- Forget me not films 

- Men’s breakfast 

- Sub Zero 

- Activity Days 

- Healing Service 

- CAP courses 

- Walking Wednesdays 

- Baptism visits/contacts 

- Bereavement visits/contacts 

Please continue to support this area of our ministry and anyone who feels they would like **to join the Evangelism team** please contact Jan Stackhouse 01952 604775 or janicestackhouse@btinternet.com 

## **COMMUNITY** 

The **Men’s Breakfasts** which normally met on the second Saturday of the month at The White House Hotel, Muxton were unable to meet due to the COVID 19 pandemic.  The plan is to restart in 2022 when considered safe to do so. **Join us 4 a Cuppa!** As with lots of groups we were unable to meet for most of 2021 due to the pandemic.  We did manage to have a few coffee mornings towards the end 2021.   We were a bit nervous but with adding further safety on how we run things this helped to minimise the risk the best we could. We even managed to raise £50 for Breast cancer with a Bring & Buy stall and £70 was raised by one of St John’s house groups ‘Flair’  with a last minute gift stall. Thank you all for supporting us and look forward to seeing you all in 2022. **Forget me not films** At the end of 2021, happily, we were able to resume our film mornings together, albeit with extra 

precautions in place, and are once more enjoying our times of film, food and friendship.  We hope that 2022 we will be able to continue meeting without interruption on the third Thursday of each month at 9.45am for a 10am start.  We will however be continuing to monitor the situation with COVID and will postpone any meeting which is felt to be too risky for those who come. 

Once again **Lunch Club** could not meet in 2021 except we did manage to meet for our Christmas Lunch in December which was very successful and enjoyed by around 50.  Thanks to all Lunch Club members for their continued support and to the fabulous team of helpers/organisers. We hope for a bit more normality and to see you all in 2022. 

**Tiny Tots Club** is a parent and toddler group for parents/carers and their children of 0-4years held each Tuesday morning during term time. The group seeks to reach people in the community who are of ages and at stages in life which are not well represented in our church 

congregation.  Each session contains free play, craft session, singing time, a bible-related story, a prayer and a refreshment break. **Tiny Tots reopened its doors in September 2021 after** 

## **being closed since March 2021 because of the Coronavirus** 

**pandemic.** In the autumn term we welcomed between 10 -20 children and their carers each week.  We enjoyed a successful Christmas Party with a visit from Father Christmas. The team of volunteers has expanded to 10 and we are very grateful for the commitment given by the whole team. 

**Afternoon Fellowship** has not restarted and may resume at a later date if there is a willingness to do so. 

## **Community Litter Pick** (monthly) 

This initiative is arranged to coincide with “Join us 4 a cuppa” event but sadly due to the pandemic we only managed to meet towards the end of the year.  It is a simple way of showing our love and care for our community, we usually meet just before 10am at St John’s to get kitted out with equipment supplied by Telford Street Champion 

project; gloves, gripper tool, bin bag holders and fluorescent tabards. We then go around the streets and parks of Muxton collecting litter that blights the environment. This not only benefits our community but gives us an opportunity to chat with members of the community as we get some fresh air and exercise. We usually fill a bin bag with litter then go back to Church, wash up, have a free coffee for our exertions and continue with our chats whilst indulging in lovely toasted sandwiches or similar. 

**CAP (Christians against Poverty)** - **CAP DEBT CENRE** The partnership group of four churches that oversee the Debt Centre (D.C.) remains the same as last year. In 2021 we advertised for a new Debt Coach to join Jane (the part-time Centre Manager) and Marcelle, and are delighted that Lizzie joined the team in October 2021. The impact of Covid-19 affected  the way clients were contacted by the Debt Coaches (on-line or by telephone) until September when face-to-face visits resumed (with the support of volunteers/befrienders). CAP Bradford implemented new and effective methods of handling client cases: including on-line uploading of client information and documents.  Many clients needed greater support in 2021 because of isolation and the effect on their mental health. This is made more problematic by slow decision-making in the processing of universal credit payments and the lack of compassion shown to clients as they 

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_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

access the benefits system. It is hoped to develop a new and effective version of the CAP Connect ‘Drop In’ events in 2022. In 2021 1800 hours of support were given by volunteers to the D.C. with one client event held at Christmas and hampers prepared across a number of church groups (including many from St John’s) and delivered to all clients. Volunteers are able to talk with clients enquiring about the Christian faith and help them to engage with church worship and activities. The number of volunteers has reduced however and we anticipate that the greater demand and more complex cases of the coming year will make the support of befrienders even more important. Additionally we would love to offer a full range of CAP services in Telford (Life Skills & Job Club). Is God calling you to serve Him as a befriender or to set up a new service? We are so grateful to regular contributors to the Centre (some of whom are members of St John’s) We have however made use of our reserve funds for a second year and expect our costs to rise in 2022. We pay £850.00 per month to CAP HQ who provides the professional debt management services. Limited funding support is given by CAP Head Office in Bradford for DRO (Debt Relief Order) and Bankruptcy fees. However our clients increasingly need this help quicker so extra funding is required. We hope to continue to develop a robust and sustainable funding basis to secure the future of the service. We had only a couple of fundraising events in 2021 and would appreciate ideas and support for fundraising in 2022. During 2021 Telford CAP Debt Centre moved from Mercian Community Trust to come under the charitable status of All Saints, Wellington. Most regular donors have made the necessary changes but it is important that all donations now go the new account: P C C All Saints     Code: 30-99-27 Account Number: 00006531 Ref; CAP followed by your surname.  This is a dedicated account for the Debt Centre. National indicators show that Telford Debt Centre has again performed above national averages.  At the end of the year, we had 56 clients. In 2021 eight clients have gone debt free with another 4 on the cusp of reaching this goal. There were no CAP money courses help in 2021 but we hope that this will be rectified in 2022. A full CAP Debt Centre annual report is available on request from Jane or Vicky. 

**Street Pastors** are trained volunteers from local churches who support the night time economy in their local community, by providing teams of men and women to go out in the evenings to offer support by ‘caring, listening and helping’. The Telford team patrols on two out of every three Saturday evenings and from 10pm - 4am the following morning, moving between Wellington, Telford Centre, Ironbridge, Oakengates (and occasionally Newport) depending upon need and night club activity. For a number of years now our churches have actively supported Telford Street Pastors by providing members (current active Street Pastors are Gill, Teresa and Simon), supporting financially and by Matthew being part of the organising committee. The teams’ role is to help and support those people out in the evenings, helping them get home safely, caring for them when necessary or simply providing a listening ear when they need a friendly face to talk to. In addition we support the homeless, providing necessities, such as washing kits and sleeping bags, as well as working with our partners to arrange night shelter. Due to the impact of the covid pandemic, patrols in 2021 did not commence until May, and from then until mid July we were only out on early 

evening patrols (8pm until 1pm) as nightclubs were not yet open. Since July, and nightclubs being reopened, our normal late night patrols have recommenced, and pleasingly our presence continues to be valued by the vast majority of those out in the evenings, as well as our partners such as the local authority, police, ambulance and door staff. We would like to provide a patrol every week but to do that we need to increase our number of street pastors, (as sadly during the pandemic a number of street pastors have stepped down from this ministry). We are running a recruitment campaign with a training course planned for March 2022. Please see Simon T or Gill S should you want to find out more about this challenging but very rewarding ministry as either a Street Pastor or Prayer Pastor as we look to bring “the presence of Jesus onto our streets”! 

The **Christmas Fair** did not take place in 2021 

**WEBSITE/SOCIAL MEDIA** During 2021 our new look website went “live.”  It is managed by UKchurches and now is smartphone and tablet friendly.  The St John’s and St Michael’s parts of the site are more integrated than on our previous website. Our Facebook accounts are looked after by Lisa, another way in which we communicate with the local community.  Thank you Dan and Lisa. 

## **WORLD CHURCH & JUSTICE** 

The WCJ group includes representatives from both churches with the majority of activities being jointly organised and held in both churches. 

**Membership** The joint group membership started the year with seven members sadly dropping to six following the death of Ann; finishing the year with two from St Michael’s, and three from St John’s. Vicky was welcomed as Tearfund Representative for both churches. The group met on three occasions the first two by Zoom. 

**Mission Profile** Nepal Leprosy Trust (NLT) one of the missions supported by St John’s, was selected as the mission to be profiled. On 21st November Mike, NLT UK Administrator and Trustee spoke of the work of NLT in both churches (Two colleagues staffed a craft stall selling goods made by NLT patients). 

## **Mission of the Year 2021** 

Toybox which supports city street children was selected and speaker Jenny gave an excellent Zoom presentation on 4th July. 

## **Other WCJ activities** 

• **Fairtrade Fortnight 2021 (22 February - 7 March)** 

The Slogan was ‘Choose the World you Want’. Because of the difficulties of meeting by Zoom an email request was made to congregation members to ‘Show and Tell’ about a Fairtrade item that they purchased which would make a difference to the world. A Fairtrade video was shown at both churches. 

- **World Leprosy Day** This was recognised in both churches by including prayers and advertising the film ‘I Am Belaya’. 

- **World Prayer Topics in Weekly Notices.** These continued 

- to appear on a two monthly basis (approx) and were aimed to help and encourage our congregations focus their private prayers on current world crises, emergencies and disasters. 

•   The **Tearfund Big Quiz Night** scheduled to be held by Zoom on 20 November had to be cancelled due to the lack of support, however a smaller informal quiz was held which 12 church members attended and this raised £40 for Tearfund. 

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_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

• **Climate Change** - An article on Climate Change was written for the November Magazine to coincided with COP 26 and congregations were encouraged to use the Tearfund web site ‘How green are You’. 

Christmas and hope they take away something from it, and think about more than present and food on Christmas day. Please continue to pray for our young people, and youth leaders, as we enter 2022. 

## **Mission Giving** 

St. John’s donates 12% of income to support mission projects locally, at home and overseas. The amounts donated were; -  3% to Tearfund - £1,983; 

- 3% to CPAS £1,983; 

- 2% to Nepal Leprosy Trust £1,322; -  2% to Telford CAP Debt Centre £1,322; -  1% to Mission of the Year 2021 Toybox £661; -  Special Fund (0.5%) Samaritans Purse £120, NLT £180, Kreativity, (Ukraine) £120; -   Local Fund (0.5%) Telford Christians Together £100, Telford Priory School £100; Telford Street Pastors £130. From the PCC the £250 Miscellaneous Appeals Fund had been donated to a variety of appeals received: European Christian Mission, Lifewords (SGM), Wycliffe Bible Translators, Embrace, Church Mission Society, Barnabas, Children's Society. The St John’s WCJ group members for 2021 were Di, Sandra, and David plus Vicky, Tearfund Representative. 

## **YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN’S MINISTRY** 

## _Children’s groups comprise of:_ 

**LIGHT** (our crèche for preschool children) and **SAS** (for children aged 5 to 10) – It has been another hard year again for these age groups,  sadly not meeting for most of the year. **SAS** restarted on the first Sunday in November with 3 or 4 young people attending.  The Acorn room has been made available for families with young children as we currently have no leaders for this age group. Livestream has been set up so they don’t miss out on the service **Looking ahead** 

As always we rely on the teams to carry out the work week in week out and we would just like to thank everyone who has helped in anyway.  Sadly our leadership has reduced considerably and we ask that you consider whether Children’s work is a ministry you would like to be part of.  Please speak to Matthew or Lesley if you are interested. _Young People’s groups:_ 

During the first half of the year we remained in the grip of the pandemic, so our youth groups were largely closed. However, some of our young people continued to attend FROGs in Cheswardine, and Conn3ct youth services. These were largely on-line but a few face-to-face meetings were held. From September, we started to meet face-to-face again with Spark re-starting within our Sunday morning services. This is led by Andrew and Kathy. An average of 4 young people attend each Sunday. We decided not to re-start Fusion or Blaze due to the lack of attendance prior to the pandemic, and the fact that some leaders have chosen to step down. Some of our young people continue to attend FROGs on a Tuesday evening, and enjoy this. Conn3ct has, however, ceased to run. Sub:Zero and Sub:Extra re-started after Easter. We met once a month, instead of weekly, due to lack of leaders. We had around 20 young people each week at Sub@Zero, and 4 or 5 at Sub:Extra. Two older boys have helped to run outdoor games, which has been successful. As usual, we had 'TGI @ Sub:Zero' on the last Friday before Christmas. This is an opportunity to remind our member of the true meaning of 

**SAFEGUARDING** The children, young people’s and vulnerable adults’ work is undertaken within agreed policy statements together with an e-safety policy ratified by PCC. This has been devised along guidelines recommended by the Lichfield Diocese.  The policy statements, ratified by the PCC, are displayed in the church porch and on the church website. In 2021 the Safeguarding Officer was Jan Stackhouse.  A subcommittee and the PCC continue to look into the detail/policies for the Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.  From 2018 everyone was encouraged to complete online Diocesan Training of C0 & C1 and a few undertook C2 and C3.  This is ongoing.  DBS and Training records for all staff, both paid and voluntary, are reviewed and lapses reported to the PCC. 

For the period January- December 2021 · There were **no incidents** that required a referral to Social Care 

· There was **1 Cause for Concern** report filed – which was examined and satisfactorily dealt with using St John's and St Michael's Safeguarding procedures. Lichfield Safeguarding team was notified as a matter of routine 

## **LOVING RELATIONSHIPS** 

## **WELCOME AND CONNECTIONS TEAM** 

Last year we longed for the day when St John's was able to open again. Thankfully a lot has happened in a year, it is a real joy to see new faces coming along on a Sunday morning and to connect with them. As before when they feel comfortable I will invite them to share details of name, address, contact numbers and email, so they can connect with other members of St John’s.  The various Groups within St John's have played an important role in supporting their fellow members during difficult times. New ventures such as Freedom in Christ and a new course for 2022, Soul Speak give us hope as individuals and as a church to move forward and an opportunity to shine a light in a dark world. We have much to rejoice in as we are able to share the love of Jesus with those we meet in St John’s, whether existing, new members or visitors and from our wider community. A welcome pack is still available for new members/visitors. We love because He first loved us... 1 John 4:19 

**The Pastoral group** consists of Matthew Lefroy (Vicar) Vikki Day (Curate & Bereavement coordinator), Julie (Pastoral coordinator), Barbara (Welcome and Nurture), Norman, Moira, Jane, Terry and Martie. The pastoral team met on 19[th] July and 26[th] October in person with nearly all members of the team attending.  The Pastoral list was updated in October 21 which enabled the group to keep updated. This year we have welcomed Curate Vikki Day to the pastoral team.  Vikki will be coordinator with July and Angie on support for bereavement families in both the churches.  Judith handed over the pastoral coordinator role to Julie in April of this year.  We are greatly appreciative to Judith for the many years of hard work. Martie and Julie have updated the team on children’s work at St John’s informing that the Sunday school groups for primary aged children re-started in November.  Tots continue to grow 

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_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

from strength to strength with positive feedback from parents/carers.  Julie continued to send cards out regularly and some phone calls mainly to church family not attending church services.  Housegroups also support our church family. **SMALL GROUPS** Small mid week groups continue to be essential to the life of St John’s and those that attend find them integral to their daily life; during the period of COVID our groups were the main link with each other offering the opportunity to pray and grow in faith together. Currently we have 7 groups in Muxton that meet either during the day or evening and at the end of the year the number of people attending all groups was **88,** some of these attend more than 1 group. The actual number of members of the church family attending was **76.** Afternoon Fellowship has currently not resumed following lockdown; our sincere thanks go to Judith and Colin for leading this group over many years. Each group has its own unique style but all are soundly based in sharing our love of Jesus, learning and deepening our faith and praying for each others needs. We each use material best suited to our groups and on occasions will follow a common theme or material that has been suggested to meet the needs of the whole church family. During the COVID lockdown groups met primarily through zoom but as restrictions lifted, groups that wished to were able to meet physically whilst taking care to protect each other. Zoom will continue to offer groups an additional function to enhance options for people to attend as leaders have become more adept at using the IT options available to them. Group Leaders have met together on 4 occasions during the year to offer each other support and share ideas and material. Please pray for these groups and especially the leaders who work hard preparing, leading, encouraging and supporting their members. Should anyone like to join a mid week small group please contact either Jan Stackhouse or Matthew for more information. 

## **SIDESPERSON LIST FOR 2021** 

Sadly this is a role that didn’t occur very often in 2021 only restarting towards the end of the year. If you would like to join the Sidespersons rota please speak to Judith. 

|Dom & Martie|Ann L|
|---|---|
|Di|Alisdair|
|Geoff & Mary|Colin & Judith|
|Yvonne|John & Wendy|
|John & Moira|Pete & Julie|
|Andrew & Katharine|Terry & Jan|
|Simon & Julie|Simon & Lesley|
|Steve & Heather|David & Sue|
|Christine|Vicky|



## **CHURCH ATTENDANCE, ELECTORAL ROLL FIGURES AND OTHER STATISTICS** 

**Electoral Roll:** At the 2021 revision the number of names on the roll was 96. After preparation of the Roll prior to today the total stands at 92.  After the revision today there are 50 women and 42 men on the Electoral Roll. Of the Electoral Roll 29 are Non Resident, 4 from Lilleshall parish which leaves 59 people who are from Muxton parish. 

**General Attendance:** Our attendance this year is different again. Like in 2020, circumstances in 2021 were still unsettled 

which meant we continued to access our services in various ways also having an impact on our Easter/Christmas statistics. Our services had a mix of ‘in person’ and watching from home via Zoom for most of the year moving to Livestreaming in October 2021.  From August, when restrictions were beginning to ease, we began to see an increase in ‘in person’ attendance averaging 25 adults and approx 30/40 logging on to zoom from home. When we moved to Livestreaming we saw another increase of people attending church to approx 35/40.  We continued to send out sermons/notices to approx 10 people on a weekly basis. 

|**STATISTICS**|**2022**|**2021**|**2020**|**2019**|**2018**|**2017**|**2016**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Average Adult**<br>**Attendance:**||See<br>above|Oct<br>72|79|75|72|71|
|**Average Child**<br>**Attendance:**|||-|15|17|16|14|
|**Adult + child**<br>**attendance**|||Oct<br>72|94|92|88|85|
|**Easter Day**<br>**Communicants:**||9|-|122|78|80|80|
|**Christmas**<br>**Eve/Day**<br>**Communicants:**||40|76|62|70|113|55|
|**Electoral Roll**|92|96|95|87|104|107|104|
|**Baptisms (aged 0-**<br>**13years): **||1|0|4|1|5|0|
|**Baptisms (aged**<br>**13 and above): **||0|0|0|3|1|0|
|**Thanksgivings **||0|0|2|1|0|0|
|**Marriages:**||0|0|0|0|0|0|
|**Funeral service in**<br>**church:**||0|0|2|1|1|1|
|**Funeral service at**<br>**crematorium:**||15|10|6|6|5|7|
|**Total funerals**||15|10|8|7|6|8|
|**Confirmations:**||0|0|3|0|5<br>(+2)|0|



**THE DEANERY SYNOD OF EDGMOND AND SHIFNAL** Encompasses both St John’s and St Michael’s churches; with 2 vacancies from St John’s. As the fog of Covid restrictions lifted slightly the opportunity was grabbed to hold a physical meeting on the 28[th] September at St. Michael’s Lilleshall. Topics for discussion were: **Parish Share Changes –** The Proposed “Common Fund” was explained saying  that the contributions from parishes are based on 2 principles: fairness and generosity: **Shaping for Mission -** A team of volunteers with Matthew and Mary have been working behind the scenes to carry out Bishop Michael’s requirements for this: **Building the Vision -** at present there are 24 Parishes – 19 Semi-Rural, 1 Suburban and 4 Town based, 24 churches, 9 benefices & 2 Chaplaincies. There are 3 major population centres, being Newport, Albrighton and Shifnal all supported by many volunteers. Most pay their share but some are struggling. Focus on Growing in Faith (Discipleship) and Sharing Faith (Evangelism): **Vision for the next 7 years -** (allowing for the Covid financial affect). Focus on Growing in Faith (Discipleship) and Sharing Faith (Evangelism). Look at doing this in clusters in the deanery. Be part of local faith community growing together: creating partnerships sharing core parts of church life; reducing administration costs. Adopting a corporate approach to worship and joining in neighbouring church activities: **Deanery Plan -** To be compiled over the next 18 months and will look at joint projects in young people’s work; reducing 24 parishes (administrative units) to 15, consider the viability of some church buildings and suggest more sustainable 

- 6 - 



_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ 

patterns of worship. The next meeting is due to take place in February 2022. 

**FINANCIAL REVIEW** St John’s Church holds two bank accounts, one being the main PCC account (for the day to day running of the church), and the other being the Building Management account (for all things related to the upkeep and fabric of the building; and its use and rental). The main account also includes some Restricted Funds. These funds are available to assist our children and youth who may wish to attend church/Christian camps. 

With the uncertainty surrounding Covid a deficit budget of £7100 was initially agreed to include plans to upgrade and improve the WiFi coverage in the church building (carried over from 2020). Due to the lack of income, the Building Management proposed no additional spending other than that required to cover wages, utilities and minimal upkeep of the building. 

Early in the year the budget was increased to include the first church newspaper and a major overhaul of the AV system, with a view to Livestreaming services, replacing our use of Zoom. 

We have been blessed that our voluntary giving increased by £3,600 including some generous one off donations. Whilst Sunday services took place in the building, there was minimal giving via the open plate. 

Covid continued to have an impact on church life with minimal hiring of the building (reducing income) and little use by church groups, though this did mean our expenditure was reduced slightly. 

The church has met its Parish Share of £35,866 in full and continues to give 12% of its regular giving income to various missions. Major expenditure included the salary of two staff, and with the assistance of the furlough scheme we continued to ensure they received 100% income. 

Other expenditure includes office costs, clergy expenses, copyright fees as well as the all the other resources for the day to day running. 

Reduced use of the building meant lower utility bills and slightly less expenditure on upkeep. 

During the year the management of the CAP Hardship fund was passed to All Saints, Wellington along with the £2,300 balance. 

By the end of the financial year the combined income of the two accounts was just over £89553 with expenditure just under £88640. Total funds at the end of 2021 were £68146 – an increase of £913. 

A budget deficit of £10360 was set in November 2021, but as a special item the PCC agreed in principal to the additional cost of funding new porch doors. 

The **Building Management** current account has been reduced from £8,580 pre Covid to £2,124k at the end of the 2021, thankfully we have not had to use reserves as was feared part way through the year. The PCC current account has increased by just over £4,377 during the same period. As a treasurer I am ever grateful to the continued generous gifts from the congregation which makes my role, and that of the PCC, so much easier. 

My continued thanks to Carol B for her work in claiming Gift Aid back from HMRC, a valuable role which equates to about 12% of our income. 

Finally, thank you to all of you who give regularly not just financially, but of their time too. Without you, we could not continue God’s work in the parish, and look forward to a more normal 2022 

## **A BIG THANK YOU** 

## **to all of you who have given so generously to the church during 2021.** 

The **FABRIC & ORNAMENTS** of our church are in good order and the Church Wardens have very little responsibility for ensuring that this continues, due to the PCC Sub-Committee Building Management Team. 

A Log Book listing details of work carried out on the building is set up and constantly updated by Building Management.  An Inventory of church items, including the silver and moveable furniture is also noted. Photographs of all items are included and the silver weighed and hallmarks recorded for insurance purposes. These are both diocesan requirements. An inventory/terrier of all items within the church is due to be updated in 2022 (delayed recently due to circumstances). Once again a big thank you to everyone for supporting the church wardens and Building management team in caring for our church. 

**The Building Management Team ensures that our church is maintained at the highest level at all times, is a safe, warm and welcoming place for all.** 

During 2021 the following was carried out: 

   - The role of BMT continued to be very different in many ways during 2021 with the pandemic affecting the ways we welcomed people into our church and obviously continued to impact our finances. 

   - One valve in the space above the kitchen has been replaced, a second valve will need to be fitted by a plumber. 

   - A leak on the water boiler was repaired 

   - An inspection of the Lightning Conductor was carried out and repairs made at a cost of £901. 

   - An emergency evacuation drill was carried out in September. 

   - Health and safety policies were reviewed, no amendments were made. 

   - The church continued to be made safe throughout the lockdowns and partial re-openings – BMT ensured that both the Government and Church of England’s guidelines were followed at all times.  Les ensured that all the risk assessments were updated and followed. 

- A project to replace the front doors was started 

- The Building Management Team are: Lesley, Steve, Nigel, Simon, Tony and Gill 

## **CHURCH ADMINISTRATOR AND PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE VICAR** 

Lesley Trotman continues to work as our valued Church Administrator and St John’s Building Manager and we are grateful for all that she does throughout the year. 

Matthew Lefroy (Chairman)                                  3rd April 2022 On behalf of St John’s PCC 

- 7 - 



## **St John's Church, Muxton** 

## **Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2021** 

## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** 

## **RECEIPTS** 

## **Voluntary Receipts** 

Receipts from donors 

Planned giving 

Plate Collections 

Income tax recovered 

Other voluntary receipts 

Grants 

CAP Hardship 

Hire of Hall 

Receipts from Church Activities (Magazine, Evangelism, Youth) Children Youth Sub Extra 

Investment Income - CBF Deposit Fund 

From St Michaels for Shared Costs (Wages, Office, Copier, Phone etc) Other Income Activity Days 

## **Total Receipts** 

## **PAYMENTS** 

Church Activities 

Diocesan parish share 

Outward Mission Giving (12% Mission and other charitable giving) Church Activities  Evangelism, Publicity, Tots 

Youth & Children (inc Sub Zero) Housegroup & small teams SML Magazine share Resouces, CCLI Licence and misc. 

AV, Music, WiFi upgrade 

Other Payments - Insurance, bank charges, accountant fees Office costs inc phone 

|**Unrestricted**<br>**General**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>49,283.38<br>415.41<br>10,397.93<br>6,108.17<br>2,599.67<br>68,804.56<br>968.95<br>318.32<br>10.15<br>8,019.60<br>2,580.74<br>80,702.32|**Unrestricted**<br>**General**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>49,283.38<br>415.41<br>10,397.93<br>6,108.17<br>2,599.67<br>68,804.56<br>968.95<br>318.32<br>10.15<br>8,019.60<br>2,580.74<br>80,702.32|**Designated**<br>**Building**<br>**Management**<br>**£**<br>1,818.78<br>1,818.78<br>4,646.50<br>6.01<br>6,471.29|**Designated**<br>**Building**<br>**Management**<br>**£**<br>1,818.78<br>1,818.78<br>4,646.50<br>6.01<br>6,471.29|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>2,080.00<br>2,080.00<br>300.00<br>2,380.00|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>2,080.00<br>2,080.00<br>300.00<br>2,380.00|**Restricted**<br>**Youth**<br>**£**|**Restricted**<br>**Youth**<br>**£**|**Total**<br>**2021**<br>**£**<br>£49,283.38<br>£415.41<br>£10,397.93<br>£6,108.17<br>£4,418.45<br>£2,080.00<br>£72,703.34<br>£4,646.50<br>£968.95<br>£318.32<br>£16.16<br>£8,019.60<br>£4,399.52<br>£300.00<br>£89,553.61|**Total**<br>**2021**<br>**£**<br>£49,283.38<br>£415.41<br>£10,397.93<br>£6,108.17<br>£4,418.45<br>£2,080.00<br>£72,703.34<br>£4,646.50<br>£968.95<br>£318.32<br>£16.16<br>£8,019.60<br>£4,399.52<br>£300.00<br>£89,553.61|**Total**<br>**2020**<br>**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||£48,329.47|
|||||||||||£662.85|
|||||||||||£9,563.85|
|||||||||||£3,208.97|
|||||||||||£2,742.98|
|||||||||||£1,410.45|
|||||||||||£65,918.57|
||||||||||||
|||||||||||£5,488.50|
|||||||||||£853.00|
|||||||||||£270.00|
|||||||||||£116.25|
|||||||||||£7,755.60|
|||||||||||£2,493.60|
||||||||||||
|||||||||||£82,895.52|
||||||||||||
|35,866.00||||||||£35,866.00||£35,866.00|
|8,708.63||||||||£8,708.63||£7,404.53|
|1,673.70||||||||£1,673.70||£427.30|
|555.87||||||||£555.87||£481.10|
|219.50||||||||£219.50|||
|206.88||||||||£206.88||£595.00|
|1,764.05||||||||£1,764.05||£3,494.72|
|3,580.53||||||||£3,580.53|||
|1,486.00||96.00||||||£1,582.00||£1,418.08|
|1,026.09||||||||£1,026.09||£1,993.23|





## **Unrestricted Designated** 

## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** 

## **RECEIPTS** 

Photocopier rental and printing Wages Utilities Maintenance & cleaning Clergy Fees Other 

## **Total Payments** 

Transfer between funds 

## **Excess of Receipts over Payments** 

Bank current and deposit accounts 1st January 2021 Bank current and deposit accounts 31st December 2021 **Change in Reserves** 

|**General**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>2,658.19<br>12,809.35<br>390.22<br>1,871.72<br>72,816.73|**General**<br>**Fund**<br>**£**<br>2,658.19<br>12,809.35<br>390.22<br>1,871.72<br>72,816.73|**Building**<br>**Management**<br>**£**<br>6,768.07<br>2,200.98<br>4,372.72<br>86.07<br>13,523.84|**Building**<br>**Management**<br>**£**<br>6,768.07<br>2,200.98<br>4,372.72<br>86.07<br>13,523.84|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>2,299.23<br>2,299.23|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>2,299.23<br>2,299.23|**Restricted**<br>**Youth**<br>**£**|**Restricted**<br>**Youth**<br>**£**|**Total**<br>**2021**<br>**£**<br>£2,658.19<br>£19,577.42<br>£2,200.98<br>£4,372.72<br>£390.22<br>£4,257.02<br>£88,639.80|**Total**<br>**2021**<br>**£**<br>£2,658.19<br>£19,577.42<br>£2,200.98<br>£4,372.72<br>£390.22<br>£4,257.02<br>£88,639.80|**Total**<br>**2020**<br>**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||£2,339.55|
|||||||||||£18,882.62|
|||||||||||£2,982.31|
|||||||||||£3,690.23|
|||||||||||£426.72|
|||||||||||£2,480.85|
|||||||||||£82,482.24|
||||||||||||
|-3,580.00||3,580.00|||||||||
|4,305.59||-3,472.55||80.77||||£913.81||£413.28|
|41,824.17<br>46,129.76<br>4,305.59||11,689.28<br>8,216.73<br>-3,472.55||219.23<br>300.00<br>80.77||13,500.21<br>13,500.21||**£67,232.89**<br>**£68,146.70**<br>£913.81|||
|41,824.17||11,689.28||219.23||13,500.21||**£67,232.89**||£66,819.61|
|46,129.76||8,216.73||300.00||13,500.21||**£68,146.70**||£67,232.89|
|4,305.59||-3,472.55||80.77||||£913.81||£413.28|



## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES** 

## **Cash Funds** 

Bank current account CBF deposit account 

## **RESTRICTED FUNDS** 

CAP Hardship Fund Restricted Youth Fund Activity Days 

TOTAL RESTRICTED FUNDS 

|**Unrestricted**<br>**£**<br>£26,643.88<br>£19,485.88<br>£46,129.76<br>**Starting**<br>**Balance**<br>**£**<br>219.23<br>13500.21<br>13719.44|**Designated**<br>**£**<br>£2,124.18<br>£6,092.55<br>£8,216.73<br>**Income**<br>**£**<br>2080<br>300<br>2380|**Restricted**<br>**£**<br>£300.00<br>£300.00<br>**Expenditure**<br>**£**<br>2299.23<br>2299.23|**Restricted**<br>**£**<br>£13,500.21<br>£13,500.21<br>**Ending**<br>**Balance**<br>**£**<br>13500.21<br>300.00<br>13800.21|**Total**<br>**£**<br>**£42,568.27**<br>**£25,578.43**<br>**£68,146.70**<br>£13,500.21<br>£300.00<br>£13,800.21|**Total**<br>**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||**£41,664.61**|
||||||**£25,568.28**|
||||||**£67,232.89**|
|||||||





## **St John's Church, Muxton** 

## **Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2021** 

## **Notes** 

1. The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared using the Receipts & Payments basis. 

2.  Receipts and Payments analysis - Church Activities 

|**Church Activities**<br>PCC Fees<br>Magazines<br>Evangelism/Alpha<br>Youthwork & Childrens inc Sub<br>Activity Days<br>Resources, Kitchen, CCLI<br>House groups/Small teams<br>AV<br>Tots<br>Other Expenditure (Decoration, curates house, other ad hoc)<br>3.  Receipts and Payments analysis - Shared Cost Areas<br>Administrators Wages<br>Office Costs (inc Phone & Broadband)<br>Photocopier<br>4.  Mission Giving Breakdown<br>Tearfund<br>CPAS<br>CAP Debt Centre (Mercian Trust)<br>Nepal Leprosy Trust (NLT)<br>Toybox<br>BLISS<br>Church Homeless ‐ Special fund 2020<br>Jews for Jesus ‐ 2020 Special<br>ReSource ‐ Local Giving 2020<br>Telford Christians Togther<br>TPS ‐ Mission Giving (Local Fund)<br>Misc Giving<br>Total Mission Giving<br>5.  Church Running Expenses<br>Insurance<br>Clergy Expenses<br>Caretaker<br>Utilities<br>Maintenance<br>Total Church Running Expenses|**Receipts**<br>**£**<br>385<br>521<br>0<br>318<br>300<br>448<br>1972<br>**Receipts from**<br>**St Michaels**<br>**£**<br>5610<br>1668<br>742<br>8020<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>2048<br>1998<br>1332<br>1612<br>483<br>184<br>104<br>104<br>154<br>254<br>100<br>335<br>8709<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>1,008<br>390<br>6,768<br>2,201<br>4,259<br>14,625|**Payments**<br>**£**<br>207<br>1,560<br>556<br>0<br>1764<br>220<br>3581<br>113<br>1872<br>9872<br>**Payments**<br>**£**<br>12,809<br>1303<br>2,381<br>16494<br>Restricted<br>£<br>0<br>Designated<br>£|**Net Cost**<br>**£**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||-385|
||||-314|
||||1,560|
||||238|
||||-300|
||||1,764|
||||220|
||||3,581|
||||-335|
||||1,872|
||||7900|
||||**Net Cost to St**<br>**Johns**<br>**£**|
||||7,199|
||||-365|
||||1,639|
||||8474|
||||Total<br>**£**|
||||2,048|
||||1,998|
||||1,332|
||||1,612|
||||483|
||||184|
||||104|
||||104|
||||154|
||||254|
||||100|
||||335|
|||||
||||8,709|
||||Total<br>**£**|
||1,008||1,008|
||390||390|
||6,768||6,768|
||2,201||2,201|
||4,259||4,259|
||14,625||14,625|



## 6. Administration 

|Administrator<br>Bank Charges<br>Photocopier<br>Telephone & Internet<br>Accountancy<br>Payroll<br>Other Admin<br>Total Administration|12,809|
|---|---|
||99|
||2,658|
||539|
||200|
||180|
||487|
|||
||16,972|





## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the PCC of St John’s Church, Muxton** 

I report to the PCC on my examination of the accounts of St John’s Church, Muxton for the year ended 31 December 2021. 

## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). 

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. 

## **Independent Examiner’s statement** 

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: 

- Accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or 

- The accounts do not accord with the accounting records; 

- The accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 


L D Clifford FCA, BSC (Hons) 11 Manor Farm Drive Hinstock Market Drayton Shropshire 

22 March 2022